Sports

John McEnroe Lit Twitter On Fire Over His Serena Williams Hypothetical Men’s Ranking Comment

#John McEnroe
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Rob Tringali/Getty Images for DirecTV


Yesterday, tennis icon John McEnroe was baited into a stupid conversation that, if answered honestly, would surely make him public enemy number 1 with social justice warriors.

After McEnroe adamantly claimed that Serena Williams is the best female player to ever live, NPR host Lulu Garcia-Navarro found her opportunity for a controversial headline when responding, “Some wouldn’t qualify it, some would say she’s the best player in the world. Why qualify it?”

McEnroe then said that if Serena played in the men’s circuit, she’d be ranked around 700.

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via GIPHY

Serena’s response:

Many people on the Twitters were irate at McEnroe for stacking her up against the greatest men’s players in the world, an argument that only serves to diminish Serena’s achievements.

Fact: Serena could not beat the best men’s players in the world.
Fact: Serena is a tennis living legend and has done more for the sport than anyone of either gender.

These two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. But if you ask sexist questions, you get sexist answers. AND EVERYONE GOES NUTS…

[h/t For The Win]

Matt Keohan Avatar
Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.
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